Do krill swarms affect the distribution and behaviour of whales, and does the potent mix of predators, prey and their poo, positively affect productivity in the Southern Ocean?
Tom Maggs was a long-serving Australian Antarctic Division staff member, a regular contributor to this publication, and a well-known Antarctican. Sadly, Tom passed away on 24 December 2017. His loss has been felt deeply by the Antarctic community in Australia and overseas. The following articles pay tribute to a much-loved husband, father, friend and colleague.
Thanks to the efforts of volunteer citizen scientist transcribers, Geoscience Australia's geological Antarctic field notebook collection is now available for all to access and enjoy.
Ships, aircraft and satellites will be engaged in an ambitious, international campaign this summer, to better understand and model Southern Ocean clouds for climate and weather forecasts.
Captain Murray Doyle has been a familiar face to those commuting back and forth to Antarctica on the Aurora Australis for the last 20 years.
More than a century after they were left behind, Douglas Mawson's hard worn leather boots still sit on the shelf where he left them. His pillow still lies on his bunk. Old jumpers and balaclavas and other detritus lie undisturbed on the floor and hang from the bunks of the hut that bears his name.
Genetic analysis of Antarctic blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia) has identified three distinct populations of the critically endangered deep sea giants.
It's elemental. Iron spewed from hydrothermal vents associated with active underwater volcanoes may be fertilising pockets of highly productive waters in the Southern Ocean.
Antarctic ice cores can extend existing climate records and provide catchment-specific climate information for water resource managers.
Early this season Davis station saw an influx of 12 sea-ice researchers studying various aspects of the near-shore fast ice, through four complementary science projects. Two of the project leaders, Drs Klaus Meiners (fast-ice algae) and Petra Heil (fast-ice physics), review some of the work.
Ice shelves around Antarctica are thinning in response to climate change, with some, such as the Ross and Larson, calving huge icebergs, while others, such as the Amery, developing large rifts.
A 12-month trial of an Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant (AWTP), destined for Davis research station, has shown the plant can produce drinking quality water from wastewater, while reducing energy consumption and the amount of waste discharged into the environment.
Sound artist and RMIT University academic, Dr Philip Samartzis, travelled to Casey station as an Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow in early 2016, to explore the interaction of katabatic wind with the built and natural environments.
Long-range drones took Australia's East Antarctic Ice Sheet studies to new heights this past summer.
In this centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign, where the Great War ANZAC legend was born, the ANARE Club* has researched and recorded the names of 12 Australian and New Zealand expeditioners who served in the 'Heroic Age of Antarctic Expeditions' and who subsequently lost their lives in the First World War. The club commissioned and presented a Memorial Board in honour of these men to the Australian Antarctic Division, which is now on display at the Division's headquarters in Kingston, Tasmania.
One thing incoming Mawson Station Leader Jenny Wressell is not afraid of, is dealing with unusual scenarios in remote and challenging locations.
Genetic technologies pioneered by the Human Genome Project are opening up new realms of discovery for scientists studying microscopic Antarctic marine plants and animals.
